As part of our coverage of the Celtics second round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’ve enlisted the help of my buddy, Adam Cole-Kelly.

Adam is a writer at VH1’s Best Week Ever, and despite his current residence in New York City is a Cavs fan of mammoth proportions (Not as mammoth as this Clevelander, but still mammoth in his own right).

We’ve found success as a team before—our turn of the millennium dominance of the public basketball courts in Seville, Spain has become somewhat of a legend along the banks of the Mediterranean—and I feel confident that over the course of the next six or seven games (which in the NBA Playoffs amounts to three or four months) we’ll be able to provide you with a fresh and unique perspective of the series and all the awesomeness that comes with it.

For our inaugural installment, we threw out 10 pertinent questions and answered them from our respective soap boxes atop Celtics/Cavs Nation. Call it a series preview. Just don’t call it unstupendous (because that’s not a real word)

But first, a quick word from Adam.

Wicked Good Sports and Rich Levine from The Improper Bostonian are proud to present The Dino Radja Experience: A Celtics Podcast for April 25th, 2008.

The playoffs, a time presented to us fans that encompasses joy, rapture and a stress level higher than a Jack Clark popup. Well, you know what I mean.

If the season were to end today, the Celtics would play the 35-40 Atlanta Hawks. The only other squad they might possibly face in the first round would be Philadelphia (38-37). But with Atlanta and Philly on tap for a home and home series this weekend, the Celtics’ first round matchup should be decided by Sunday.

As for Atlanta, they are a team that has won five games in a row and is actually stocked with some well-rounded players like point guard Mike Bibby, shooting guard and former Celtic Joe Johnson and power forward Josh Smith.

They are five wins ahead of last years final win total of 30 and are No. 15 amongst all NBA teams with 98 points scored per game. In addition, they are ranked 16th in the league with a 45.3 field goal percentage and are positioned a surprising 12th in the league with a mere 99.5 points allowed per game.

Is there any doubt that this year’s Celtics squad can’t win it all? The last two games have arguably been the best back-to-back games since the ‘Big Three’ roamed the fabled parquet. Seriously, one blogger termed it the ‘best 30 hours in the last two decades’ and why not?

Two games… Make that… two BIG games and two resounding wins! After the last 72 hours does anyone NOT have the C’s atop their NBA power rankings? We’re not talking beating up the Sonics and Grizzlies here- we’re talking about the defending World Champion Spurs and the mighty Houston Rockets on back-to-back nights and on the road no less! There was a time in my life when I don’t think the Celts ever beat the Spurs. I mean, I think the streak lasted a decade or something. Tim Duncan had never even felt threatened by us, and now we’ve won three straight against the Riverwalk Ballers. Who knew?

Monday’s twenty-two point come from behind win was the first this season for the Celts facing a deficit of 20 points or higher… and we did it against the Spurs… and on the freakin’ road! As Matt Damon said in ‘Good Will Hunting’- “How do you like them apples?” Then, on the following night in Houston…

Welcome to the Wicked Weekly, a new weekly segment (it’ll pop up on Fridays) here on Wicked Good Sports that highlights the winners and losers, top storylines and funniest mess-ups of the last seven days.

First, a real quick bit about me: I’m a five-time Emmy Award winning Dorchester native, who for the last 27 years has served as the voice of the Boston Celtics where… crap, that’s Gorman’s bio. Here’s me:

I’m a lifelong Bostonian.

I’d rank my Boston sports teams like so:

1. Celtics
2. Patriots
3. Red Sox
4. BC
5. Bruins

My three favorite Boston athletes of all time are mid-90’s Nomar, present day Tom Brady and 1989 Nick Esasky – I have absolutely no explanation for this last one, but because of Nick I’ve always had a special place in my heart for people with Lyme Disease).

The only three local athletes I’ve ever openly and aggressively booed are Vin Baker, Mark Blount and Reggie Jefferson. And I’d probably still boo today if I saw any of them walking down the street (or in Baker’s case, passed out under a bathroom stall).

You’ve seen the commercials. By now you should know the drill. CSN is running a promotion poll to decide which Celtics player should be named this year’s 6th Star. (By voting you could win playoff tickets or a $300 gift certificate to Sullivan Tire and Auto Service) I thought it might be fun to break down some of the candidates for the award and discuss it here.

First of all, here are the guidelines we’re given for choosing a deserving winner. “Vote for the player that has exceeded expectations and that best defines Celtics pride.” To clarify, “6th Star” should not be confused with “6th Man. ” The winner can be a starter (and has been in the past). On the other hand, I think we can eliminate Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen, simply because we expected them to be great.

I would assume that the part about “Celtics pride” is to ensure that only players with heart and a great attitude win the award. (Note: Mark Blount won the award in 2004 – before he signed his contract extension and then unofficially retired without telling anyone)

Sam Cassell and PJ Brown haven’t been around long enough to warrant consideration. Scot Pollard, Gabe Pruitt, and even Brian Scalabrine wouldn’t seem to have played enough to be seriously considered either. But that still leaves quite a list of eligible players. Let’s look at each of them.

Eddie House

House was one of the first free agents to hitch their wagon to the Celtics train after the KG trade. He was listed as a backup point guard, and while he filled that role in name, few would argue that his true position is that of shooting guard. His quick trigger has helped the team establish an outside threat, but I think that is what he was brought in for. In other words, expectations met, not exceeded.

I’m bored. Either give me the NBA playoffs or bring on opening day… Seriously, if I have to spend another Saturday and Sunday afternoon choosing between college hoops and golf- I don’t know what I’ll do. You can only do so much work around the house in the winter. Trust me, the college hoops scene blows when your alma mater is 4-11 in conference play which is good for 13th in the standings and won’t even make the Big East tourney. As a result, here’s some of what’s been floating through an angry sports mind as I still try to shake the Tyree hangover…

So Kevin Faulk likes to chill the old fashioned way… Does anyone really care? The bigger question is why was he at a Lil’ Wayne show? Didn’t he have some crony who could do the dirty work for him? Oh wait- this just in- Faulk grabbed someone else’s jacket! The drugs weren’t his… Where’s Ty Law’s cousin? I love the jacket excuse. Did Faulk just see the old episode of ‘The Brady Bunch’ when Greg accidentally grabs someone else’s jacket and gets busted for having a pack of butts. Unreal! Or maybe he watched, ‘Meet The Parents’ last night and saw how Greg Focker accidentally grabbed the jacket with the pipe… Totally classic! Regardless, he’s next year’s Rodney and will now miss the first four games of the year. I don’t think we’ll even notice him being gone. Typically, the September weather in Foxboro is ideal for passing and Tom will being doing just that as he and Randy begin to hook up for another record-breaking season.

“Celtics Now” on Comcast SportsNet sits down with mega-star Will Ferrell to discuss his new movie “Semi-Pro”, plus his thoughts on your Boston Celtics.

Better than half way through the season and still the best record in basketball….so let’s begin this mid season assessment with some givens…..Danny is exec of the year…Doc is in the thick of it for coach of the year….KG has a shot at MVP….and most important of all…the Celtics have a legitimate chance to win #17…..that in and of itself should be good enough for even the most diehard fan.

Now as I sit here in Miami we are about to find out how this team will deal with it’s first real bout of adversity…..you knew there would be some over the course of 82 games….the latest is in the form of KG’s stomach strain/injury…..he wants to play through it…but whether or not the coaching staff/front office will allow that remains to be seen….Boston proved through the first 35 games what they are capable of….now the order of the day is to have everyone healthy and ready to get back in that groove 25 games from now…..that will require some minutes manipulation as well as erring on the side of caution when it comes to bringing KG or any of the other top nine players back from the nicks and cuts that go with an 82 game marathon…..sure we all want to see how the C’s fare against San Antonio…Dallas…New Orleans…and Phoenix…but keep in mind that no matter what the outcome of those games…the Celtics would only have to deal with one of those teams to hang another banner….the Pistons…Cavs….Raptors…and Wizards will have a lot louder say as to how far the Celtics progress in the NBA’s second season…..those are the teams to watch over the next months…..the west is just gravy.

Name: William
City: Greeneville, TNComment: With the Bench playing better and better every night, the need for having the big three play 40 minutes has not been needed to win. These big three have logged a lot of minutes in their year. Do you think that they welcome the fewer minutes? I would think that it kills someone like KG to sit on the bench.

I’ve found that good players want to play all the time. KG, PP and RA are all in that camp. Not worried about the minutes.

Name: Joseph Hajkowski
City: East Hartford, CT

Comment: What’s up Mike, I always wanted to know why does Rondo wear his hand band up side down? Is it a luck thing? Thanks you and Tommy are the best!

We’ll have Greg check that out. Players do quirky things.

Name: Tyler
City: Miton, VT

Comment: Hi mike, when do you think Glen Big Baby Davis should move into the starting rotation? Because every time he comes out onto the court he’s looking to make a statement and he certainly has done that.

Glen has played well and hopefully he will just get better and more consistent. Starting lineup is just fine though.